1. Hear the word which יהוה speaks to you, O house of Yisra’ĕl.
2. Thus said יהוה, “Do not learn the way of the gentiles, and do not be awed by the signs of the heavens, for the gentiles are awed by them.
3. “For the prescribed customs of these peoples are worthless, for one cuts a tree from the forest, work for the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
4. “They adorn it with silver and gold, they fasten it with nails and hammers so that it does not topple.
5. “They are like a rounded post, and they do not speak. They have to be carried, because they do not walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they do no evil, nor is it in them to do any good.”
6. There is none like You, O יהוה. You are great, and great is Your Name in might.
7. Who would not fear You, O Sovereign of the nations? For this is Your due, for among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their reigns, there is none like You.
8. They are both brutish and foolish, an instruction of worthlessness is the tree.